New Dawn

NAME
Ricardo Cosarinsky, from Argentina -

NAME
AND LOCATION OF YOUR UNITMy unit is called 'New Dawn', and is presently located in Kottakarai
village. In the not too distant future I hope to have the means to re-build
the unit within Auroville itself.

BACKGROUND,
OR SOME INFO ON YOUR TRAINING, AND WHEN YOU JOINED AUROVILLE
I joined Auroville in February 1997. It so happened that I arrived on
the 21st which at that time I didn't know was Mother's birthday. I have
been a carpenter since about 22 years, and started my training in this
craft when I stopped my career as an airline pilot.

WHEN DID YOUR
UNIT START?I started my unit
10 months after joining Auroville. Soon after I arrived I was requested
to oversee the crew of carpenters working at the Surrender collective
housing project. After 10 months or so I finished this project, got
together with the best guys of the team and together we decided to develop
our own workshop. Due to lack of financial means, I rented for the time
being a little house in Kottakarai village which we had to somewhat
modify to make it appropriate for our purposes.

WHAT WAS THE
MAIN INSPIRATION BEHIND STARTING IT?The main inspiration
for me was to find the way to serve Auroville in the best way I can,
and since my skills were in the field of carpentry I felt I should do
something utilising that skill. Also, because I came here without any
money at all, I thought that this would be the best and easiest way
to get economic independence in order to avoid being involved in the
maintenance system. Moreover, the urgent demand for good carpentry work
steered me in this direction.

SOME MILESTONES
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR UNIT?
The only major milestone that I have experienced is the learning
that I received from the Tamil workers that are with me. At the beginning
I thought that I had a lot of carpentry knowledge to give to them, and
in some ways I was correct there, but I never suspected how much they
could teach me on the human level! Our workshop has become a real human
school for all of us involved. It has become such a beautiful experience
that it's not easy to put into words.

PRESENT SITUATION
My present situation is quite hopeful, due to the fact that the demand
for our work is increasing, and I believe Auroville may give me the
financial support to build my workshop inside the township itself. I
will then be able to enhance the work and give more quality and efficiency
in my service.

SOME DESCRIPTION
OF THE NATURE OF YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE/ACTIVITY
Basically we are involved in building construction, doing all kinds
of doors, windows, louvres and cupboards, together with lots of furniture
for Aurovilians. Since about four months we have also been doing aluminum
work.

THROUGH YOUR
PRODUCT/SERVICE/ACTIVITY, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO
SEEK, OR EXPRESS?
Mainly I'm trying to be aware that whatever we are doing is for serving
the Divine, and I take everything that I do as a means of getting closer
to Him/Her through my material activity. Of course, the carpentry work
is an open window to be creative and express beauty in all that we do.
Therefore, I put a lot of strength into pushing all of us to be as good
as we can. We grow every day, and we are improving without a doubt.

WHICH ASPECT
OF YOUR WORK BEST EXPRESSES YOUR VISION, PHILOSOPHY OR APPROACH TOWARDS
AUROVILLE?
The human relationship with my workers best expresses the level on which
we are. And, of course, the quality of our work is telling about our
harmony.

IS
THERE A SPECIFIC ASPECT OF AUROVILLE YOU WOULD WISH TO SUPPORT WITH
YOUR ACTIVITY?
Maybe the economic aspect? I'm willing to join the Free Flow experiment
and thus give the chance to everybody in Auroville to have the opportunity
to have wooden products at an affordable (non)price.

FURTHER REMARKS
Just to remind all of us that we are here to be conscious servitors
of the Divine, and whatever we do has to be done in this context, otherwise
we lose sight of the goal and put the whole experiment in peril.